Ok, minna. This will be
the last chapter. sniffs It looks like not a lot of people were
interested in this, but to those who were, my bunny muse and I would
like to say Arigatou for being so very supportive!

Was
it even real? Was it just a dream?

Her
feet dragged as she unhappily made her way to the arcade. A week
now…one whole week and she had avoided them. She had told her
parents they'd been in a fight. All their calls were redirected.
She refused to speak to anyone, especially Mamorou. Only the
shittenou talked to her.

"Usa,
why do you have to do this?" Justin, also known as Jadeite, asked.
She'd been sitting with him on the roof of the small house he and
the other guys had gotten. She closed her eyes.

"It's
to protect them, I guess. They now have a chance to live out their
normal lives. When I was a senshi by myself, there was always the
question of them getting hurt because of my identity. Now, the chance
is bigger. They could be killed in battle! But Beryl is gone. They
have a chance to live."

"And
Mamorou?" She did not turn to see Keith (Kunzite) as he exited on
the roof. "He's worried sick! We've been getting calls form him
and the girls. You can't keep it hidden for long."

Usagi
suddenly whirled at him. "They've forgiven you! Is that not
enough? You have your girlfriends, you have your lives! I just want
it to stay that way, understand? I want life to be normal for them
again!" And she had stalked away, leaving them to brood over her
words. Nicholas (Nephrite) held the door open for her, and she smiled
softly.

"I
will tell them. Someday, I will." Zachary (Zoicite) had handed her
her jacket. His pale green eyes had flashed with what could have been
worry, but was soon replaced by a scarcely hidden smile.

"When
is this someday?" Justin had suddenly hopped down from upstairs.
She didn't say anything, and he sighed.

"Usagi,
be at the Crown Arcade on Monday. We have some things to discuss. If
you're not there, we'll enlist…help to come look for you."
Usagi had then been shoved unceremoniously out the door.

So
now she stood, stock still, only about three yards from the arcade.

"You
don't have to go through with it, you know." Luna looked up at
her charge. "Although if trouble should come…" Usagi sighed.

"They
will never be free, I suppose. I wish…sometimes I wish that I had
never disobeyed my mother and snuck down to Earth; that I had never
met Endymion. I wish the senshi could have led full lives, and the
shittenou also. Maybe life would have been better if they had not met
me. Maybe they could have been happy."

There
was silence for a moment, and then a girls voice suddenly reached
her, sounding rather annoyed. "Kami, Odango, if I thought you were
stupid before…!" She whirled around to face the raven headed
priestess, with all the others in tow.

Immediately
Usagi glared at Justin. "You said you'd be alone."

The
blonde boy made a face. "Did I? I remember having said before that
we would use some help if you didn't come, but who said the help
wasn't gonna be here anyway?" A faint growl in Usagi's throat
caused him to step back slightly.

Ami
approached Usagi cautiously. "Do you remember, Usagi, when you
first met me? I was alone, and without friends. You were so kind…like
an angel."

"Like
a light." Mako interrupted. "We were both happy to have met you.
Overjoyed in fact. Everyone was afraid to approach us…for different
reasons of course. But you came to us like we were normal."

Ami
smiled slightly. "Yes, it was a joyful experience." Her brow
creased. "Then we found out we were Sailor Senshi. That was no big
deal. A bigger reason for us to stay together! And we got into this
whole thing with Beryl…"

Makoto
sighed. "We woke up in our beds without knowing where you were."

Minako,
silent up until this point, looked at Usagi, who turned away. "It
was awful, Usa. Your parents said that you didn't want to see us
for now, that you were sick. All phone calls ignored, the
communicator off, and you haven't been to school at all!"

Rei
toned down her glare, making it into an apologetic glower. "We were
going crazy, Usagi! And you never said a word!"

Usagi
unconsciously rubbed a hand up and down her arm. "But…but it was
better."

"No
it wasn't." Ami's voice sounded slightly bitter. "We thought
we had failed. We though you were mad. We though we would be alone,
and you would just go."

Usagi
gaped at her. "No, Ami! Never, I would never do that! It's just,
I wanted—I wanted—I," she stopped, at a loss.

"Odango,
you have to stop!" Rei cried. "You have to stop thinking you can
protect us from everything! Because you can't. We accepted our
destinies, loved and cherished them, in fact. Nothing you do will
change that. Listen, Usagi-chan,"

Usagi
looked up, startled. Rei had never called her that before.

"We
are your protectors. We are the ones who swore by our powers to make
sure you would live. You just have to sit down and be lazy!"

Usagi
stared at her in shock, but quickly collected herself. "You don't
get it! You have to die for me! And all this because I fell in love…"

Her
eyes opened wide as Mamoru suddenly appeared in front of her,
clutching at her wrists. "Don't," he said, eyes blazing. "Say
you're sorry that we have to die. Say you're sorry that we miss
out on parts of our lives. But don't say you're sorry you
fell in love, or met me." He released her hands, and she looked
into his eyes.

Pain
stared back at her, pain that had been borne through years of
maltreatment. "I died for you. I live for you. If
anything, I get sick for you. I would do anything for you. Usako,
ashiteru."

The
senshi smiled behind them, and the shittenou exchanged secret high
fives.

Usagi
felt as if the ground had been sucked out from underneath her. She
suddenly felt warm and cold, all at the same time.

"I
love you." A strong voice whispered in her ear. Serenity looked up
and smiled.

"And
I, you. The senshi have found love as well, it seems, in the arms of
your shittenou." Endymion smiled lightly.

"It
seems so. May no war that has touched my green Terra ever visit your
moon, my love. I could not bear it if we were to live apart."

Serenity
touched his cheek lightly. "No, never. And if it does strike…who
knows? But I promise you; I will find you, the senshi, and the
shittenou. We will be together always."

"I
promised…" Usagi's voice was thick with emotions. "And though
I want to so badly, will I ever regret my decisions?"

Usagi
smiled up at the ebony-haired man in front of her. "We've come a
long way. Maybe we should stick together…for a while, anyway."

And
she closed the space between her and her love of a thousand years,
hoping never again to be separated.

Crystal Tokyo, a thousand years into the future

Chibiusa scampered
down the hallway, ignoring the cries of her nursemaid behind her as
she rushed off. Her small heels clicked against the diamond carved
hallways, and she skidded to a stop in front of a large, ornately
carved door of crystal.

Gently,
the little girl swung it open.

"Mama?"
she called.

An
ethereal woman, robed in white and with wings folded behind her,
stepped into the doorway, smiling kindly.

"Something
wrong, Small Lady?" Chibiusa scuffed the ground.

"I
ran away from Naru-chan again. I know she's supposed to take care
of me, but when I asked one of the kids at school if I could have
some of their lunch, she scolded me." The girl pouted cutely.

The
woman smiled. "It's ok, Small Lady. No doubt Lady Naru will give
up and fond Lord Umino. The two need a break from you…" she
teased lightly.

Chibiusa
ignored this comment and peered around the doorway. "Daddy?"

A
regal man in a purple pinstripe suit and with a white mask appeared
behind the woman. "Yes, Small Lady?" Chibiusa offered him a sweet
smile.

"It's
girls' time again!" The man made a face.

"I
suppose this means I'm out?" The two girls nodded, and the man
sighed.

"All
right, but I do want her back after a while, you hear me?" he made
a mock angry face, and the woman giggled. Chibiusa cutely scrunched
up her face and pushed him out.

"Ok,
I love you, buh-bye!" And with that, she slammed the door in his
face. The man took a moment to compose himself, before he shook his
head.

"Just
one of those days, milord?" Jadeite smirked slightly behind him.
"C'mon Endy. You've got to stop letting her kick you out of
your room every few days!"

Endymion
smiled thoughtfully. " I suppose so." Jadeite looked relieved,
before Endymion spun on his heel and began to walk down the hallway.
"But I'll let it go, just this time."

Jadeite
stood, stupefied, until the other shittenou turned the corner.
Zoicite noted his stunned expression and struggled not to laugh.

"He
said he'd kick her out next time, didn't he?" Jadeite only
nodded. Kunzite sighed, and Nephrite grinned. The brown-haired
shittenou took Jadeite by his arm and led him down the hallway.

"Let
me tell you something about what we like to call, 'Daddy's
girls'…" The others trailed behind them, chuckling.

Inside
the room, Chibiusa was perched on a huge, white canopy bed. "Can I
listen to the really old one's, Mama? Those are the best!" The
woman smiled.

"Of
course. Let me just get them out…" She went over to a pure white
vanity with wisps of purple of the side, and opened it. Pulling out a
piece of equipment, she moved back to the bed and sat down next to
Chibiusa.

"Now,
put it on like I showed you…that's it!" Chibiusa giggled as she
felt the cool plastic on her face.

"Why
don't they make these anymore?" She asked, pressing a button.

The
woman shrugged. "Times, as do styles and tastes, change. What do
you think of this one?"

Chibiusa
nodded. "I remember this! You called it…ah, what was it?"

Neo-Queen
Serenity (A/N: Who else could it have been?) lightly caressed the CD
player. "It's called 'Daughters', by a man called John
Mayer."

"Was
he nice?" Chibiusa asked as she listened intently.

The
Neo-Queen sighed. "If I said he was, I would be lying, but it's
not that he isn't good. I never knew him."

Chibiusa
looked astonished. "But Mama, you know everyone!"

Serenity
stood, and pulled her daughter up in her arms. "I may know them
now, but back then I wasn't as great as I am now. I was a klutz!"

"No!"
gasped Chibiusa.

"A
liar at times!"

"No!"

"I snuck out of
my house at night!"

"Never!"

"But
none of those are as bad as…."

"What?"
Chibiusa's eyes were wide. "What did you do?"

The
Neo-Queen touched noses with her daughter. "I always, always took
the last piece of pie!" The two were silent for a moment, before
dissolving into laughter.

"Chibiusa!
Chibiusa, where are you?"

The
pink-haired girl hopped from her mother's arms. "That's Megumi,
she said she would visit today!"

Serenity
smiled. "have fun!"

Just
before she reached the doorway, Chibiusa paused and looked back at
her mother. "Mama?" The woman looked quizzically at her. "Could
I maybe, someday, go back and see what you were like in the past? I'm
sure Puu wouldn't object if you asked!"

There
was a small pause, and Chibiusa wondered if she had crossed a
forbidden territory. Then, her mother spoke.

"All
in due time, I promise you." The child skipped gaily out of the
room. Her mother never broke her promises.

The
woman sat down on the bed, and picked up the discarded headphones. It
had been a mix CD, as a new song she hadn't heard in a long time
came on.

I
wanna run through the halls of my high school, I wanna scream at the
top of my lungs!

"You
ok?" Endymion sat down next to his wife. She smiled.

"Just
thinking about the old days. You?" He ruffled her hair fondly, and
she stuck her tongue out at him. The two laughed at their slightly
childish behavior before Endymion held out a hand.

"May
I have this dance, milady?" Serenity took his hand, and the two
danced to a song only their love-struck ears could hear.

Ok,
Minna, that seemed really crappy. But only reviews will tell! Tell me
how you like the ending, ok? I will revise for you…

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.